


Calls

by Earthsbestdefender



Series: 911 + 911 lone star stories [1]
Category: 9-1-1 (TV), 9-1-1: Lone Star (TV 2020)
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, one shots
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-09
Updated: 2020-03-17
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:47:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23075749
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Earthsbestdefender/pseuds/Earthsbestdefender
Summary: A collection of stories from 911 and 911 Lone Star about various calls or just random one-shots
Relationships: Athena Grant/Bobby Nash, Carlos Reyes/TK Strand, Evan "Buck" Buckley & Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV)
Series: 911 + 911 lone star stories [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1668355
Comments: 3
Kudos: 112





	1. TK and Buttercup one shot

It’s been a long day, Carlos has a shift, TK is  _ exhausted  _ and he could really use a pick me up. He feels not unlike he’s being dragged down to the bottom of a black lake so deep the sunlight no longer touches it, the weight of the water bearing down on top of him, crushing him. It’s really not an uncommon feeling, the heaviness of the day pushing him under. It’s these painfully common moments that make him want to drink or swallow pills or both. They even sometimes make him wish he were a kid again when he could still climb into bed with his dad when needed to feel safe and loved. He knows his dad wouldn’t mind being woken up by him if he needed something, but crying to one's parents in the middle of the night isn’t really something 26 year olds should do.

He still wants to hug his dad.

It’s 3:03 AM and he’s still up staring at his watch waiting, hoping even, for a call to come in when something cold and wet nudges his hand that’s dangling off the bed. He sits up, startled until he realizes it’s only Buttercup peering up at him through the darkness of the room.

“Hey Buttercup,” he sighs and pats the bed, grateful for the dog's appearance. “Hop up.”

He doesn’t have to tell Buttercup twice to jump up onto the bed; he instantly jumps up on the bed and curls next to TK’s chest. He gives him a quick lick on the chin before settling his head on TK’s arm.

“Thanks, buddy,” TK mumbles and tucks his free arm around the dog. He finally closes his eyes as a feeling of ease works its way deeper into him with each peaceful breath from the dog. The steady rise and fall of the animal’s sides is reassuring and his warm soft body tucked close to TK’s is comforting. He feels lighter with the dog close to him. He buries his face in Buttercup's shoulder and breathes a little easier. He doesn't feel quite so alone anymore. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Buck and Eddie get trapped in a burning building.

Buck comes to, to a deafening ring scream in his ears as his head pounds mercilessly. He slowly lifts his head off the hard ground and something hot and wet spills down the side of his face; he ignores it and blinks his eyes a couple of times to try to clear his blurry vision. The dust in the air stings and claws at his throat as he takes in a shaky breath, and he crumples forward coughing helplessly. His chest tightens as pain crushes around his ribs making next to impossible to breathe. Buck lays still on the hard ground for a couple seconds trying to catch his breath before making a second attempt at sitting up. His head pounds unbearable as he sits up and a flash of dizziness hits him so hard he almost collapses again.

He takes in a slow thin breath, trying not to breathe in any of the smoke and dust in the air, before trying to call for Eddie. "Eddie! Eddie, can you hear me!?"

Panic grips Buck as he's met with nothing but the relative silence of the slowly collapsing building around him. There's a crackling sound from somewhere above his head that makes him look up to see the evil orange glow of fire shining between the cracks in the ceiling above him.

"Buck, Eddie, do you copy? please copy!" Bobby's voice crackles in over the radio.

"This Buck, I copy," Buck rasps into his radio.

"You two have to get out of there, the whole top half of the building is about to come down," Bobby says urgently, instilling further fear in Buck

"Yeah, uh… there's a problem," Buck coughs and claws himself to his feet trying to get a better view of his surroundings, but it's hard through the dust and smoke.

"Buck, what's wrong?" Bobby replies urgently.

"I can't find Eddie," Buck pants and stumbles forward a few steps. There are piles of rubble and plaster all over the hallway where the floor had fallen through with them on it. "The floor we were on caved in and- and he's gone… I can't find him, Bobby!"

"What floor are you on?” Bobby asks desperately.

“We were on floor seven, but collapsed. We're on six now,” Buck chokes as his radio crackles and cuts him off. There’s a muffled sound like Bobby is trying to talk, but nothing coherent comes through before the radio cuts out completely. “Cap! Bobby! COME ON! Damn it!”

Buck kicks the closest piece of rubble in frustration as dust and smoke tickle the back of his throat sending him into another coughing fit. “Eddie! Answer me!” 

Buck stumbles forward a few steps and as he moves the whole floor seems to shift and small bits of burning debris crumble from the ceiling. He takes a few more unsteady steps forward, his head spinning and the thick smoky air making it hard to breathe, and then freezes as the rubble pile next to him shifts. 

“Eddie!” Buck sputters and moves as quickly as he can to the other side of the mound where he discovers Eddie laying on the ground half buried in debris. A whole new kind of panic comes over him. There's so much, _too much,_ debris piled on top of Eddie. 

“Buck…?” Eddie mumbles and lifts his head slightly as Buck throws himself on the ground next to him.

“Yeah, it’s me,” Buck says quickly and sneaks a glance at the pile of beams and plaster pinning Eddie to the ground. “I’m right here.”

“You’re bleeding,” Eddie comments quietly.

“Don’t worry about me. I’m fine,” Buck replies and grabs at one of the beams of wood to attempt to move it off if Eddie, but it doesn’t budge.

“This place is coming down any second,” Eddie mutters, his eyes focused on the fire beginning to eat through what’s left of the ceiling above them.

“If you are going where I think you’re going with that, don’t. I’m not going anywhere.”

A wry smile crosses Eddie’s face and he lets his head settle back down on the dirty ground. “I was just gonna say you better hurry.”

“Sure you were,” Buck says through clenched teeth and tries to move another beam. This one moves, but the muffled groan of pain that escapes Eddie’s lips stops Buck mid movement. “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t think you should move that one,” Eddie grunts weakly and lifts his head off the ground to look at the pile laying over the better half of his body.

“Why?” Buck asks, searching Eddie’s pained expression. “I have to get you out of here.”

“No Buck,” his friend replies softly, and there's defeat in his gaze. “ _ You  _ have to get out of here.”

“Have you lost your damn mind?” Buck snaps and rips a sheet of plaster away from the pile. “What about Christopher? You must have hit your head pretty hard if you didn’t even think about him.”

“I did,” Eddie replies quietly and grabs Buck by the wrist stopping him from grabbing another piece of debris. “He needs one of us to make it out of this building alive.”

“Or both of us,” Buck grunts and grabs hold of a beam that appears to be wedged under all of the debris. “When I say now, pull yourself free.”

“Buck...” Eddie's voice quiet and weak. 

“Just do it,” Buck snaps and adjusts his position. He grabs hold of the beam and flexing every muscle in his body, he lifts.  His muscles scream and burn with the strain as he tries to lift the debris off Eddie, and the smoke and thick air choke off his breath making it impossible to breathe. A flash of dizziness hits him like a punch to the face and his vision goes white for a second throwing him off balance. He topples over and lands on the hard ground next to Eddie, coughing and wheezing. 

“I can’t get it,” Buck wheezes and lets his headrest on the floor. “It won’t move, Eddie…”

Eddie’s eyes are closed now and there’s a small flecks of blood caked around the corners of his mouth. His muscular chest is barely even moving anymore.

“Eddie…” Buck whispers helplessly and tucks one hand under his head, it’s really the most he can move. His strength is spent and the smoke is choking out what little breath he has left. “Please hang in there. It’ll be okay. Please… Chris needs you…”

Eddie doesn’t respond even as Buck reaches over and cups his cheek in one hand.

“ _ I  _ need you,” Buck chokes and tears sting his eyes. Any other time he would’ve passed them off as his eyes watering from the smoke, but they’re not. “ _ Please.” _

Buck carefully leans over Eddie, shielding him from the flaming embers beginning to fall from the ceiling. He knows that it won’t do much, but has to do everything he can for Eddie. He closes his eyes. He knows he has to get up and keep trying to free Eddie, but his body doesn’t want to move; it wants to lay down and give up, just lay and wait for the building to fall and crush them. He knows he can’t do that. He has to get up and do what he always does, fight.

* * *

When Buck fails to respond a 10th time, Bobby gives up and grabs an ax out of the truck.

“Chimney, get this ladder to the sixth floor,” he says without hesitation as he climbs up the side of the truck.

“Cap, that building is going to come down at any second,” Hen protests with fear in her eyes.

“Then we better hurry,” Bobby says firmly.

“Bobby-”

“Hen, I lost one family to an apartment fire. I’m not going to lose another one. Buck and Eddie are still in there, I’m not leaving them.”

"I was just going to say be careful," Hen finishes looking him in the eyes

“Diaz is still up there?” Bobby shifts his attention to Bosko, who’s breaking away from her crew.

“Yes,” Bobby says curtly. “I’m going up to get him. Buck too.”

“I’m going with you,” Bosko says without missing a beat.

“I can’t ask you to do that-”

“Good thing I’m volunteering then isn’t it?” She says quickly and hoists herself up onto the ladder behind him. “Besides, if they’re passed out you’re going to need help. You’re a badass, but you can’t carry two 190 pound men.”

Bobby doesn’t even bother arguing. They don’t have time and it’s not an argument he’s going to win. 

“Then let’s go.”

“Buck!” Bobby shouts as soon as he gets through the window of the sixth floor before returning his oxygen mask to his face. He and Bosko move as quickly as possible through the smoky air, until tugs his arm and points down a hallway and points.

“There,” she says through her oxygen mask, her finger aimed at Buck’s familiar form tugging away at something on the floor. Bobby allows himself some relief at the sight of Buck, but it doesn’t last long as they move forward and Eddie comes into view through the thick smoke. He appears to be out cold and in bad shape.

***

Every part of Buck is screaming at him to lay down and rest, but he doesn’t. He tugs blindly at the pieces of ceiling still trapping Eddie. He’s not even sure if he’s making a dent, but he can’t stop. He has to keep trying.

“Buck!” It sounds like Bobby’s voice that calls his name, but he knows it can’t be. The captain is on the ground, safe. Then a firm hand clasps his shoulder and pulls him back; he finds himself face to face Bobby. “We’ve got this Buck. It’s okay.”

Buck believes him and finally lets himself stop. Everything goes black before his head even hits the ground.

* * *

Christopher is silent as he sits next to Buck in the hospital waiting room with his head resting against his chest. Buck can’t even begin to imagine what’s going through the kid’s mind, he can only really guess based on his own thoughts and worries. Christopher has already lost his mother, and now Eddie might die too. The thought of Chris being an orphan makes Buck want to forget about his own fear of losing Eddie and focus solely on making sure Chris is okay, but he can’t, and he can’t lose Eddie.

“What happened to your head?” Christopher asks, finally breaking his spell of silence.

“I hit it on a call,” Buck replies and subconsciously reaches up to poke at the stitches in the side of his head.

“Are you okay?” Chris asks softly.

Buck can’t help but smile even if it’s strained. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Dad is gonna be fine too,” Chris says quietly and nestles a little closer to Buck.

“I hope so, buddy,” Buck replies and lets his gaze track to Bobby who is pacing ferociously up and the waiting room floor. The look on the man’s face tells Buck what he already knows, it’s not good. He’d still been passed out when they pulled Eddie out of the debris and he’d woken up in a separate ambulance than the one taking Eddie to the hospital. He’d tried to squeeze answers out of Chimney and Hen on the ride over, but neither of them would say much. He still can’t tell if it’s because they didn’t know or they just didn’t want to scare him, but he knows Bobby knows how bad it is.

“Bobby, you need to sit down,” Hen says gently, finally pulling herself up from her chair and making her way over to Bobby who, at her words, has finally come to a standstill.

“I can’t,” he mumbles, almost nervously.

“Bobby, please,” Hen presses and rests one hand on his shoulder. “You need to rest yourself, besides, you’re stressing us all out.”

Bobby sighs reluctantly and sits down in the closest empty chair. He runs a shaking hand down his face and leans back in his chair. The haunted expression on his face fills Buck with a special kind of dread.

“This is my fault,” Bobby breathes as Hen sits down next to him.

Buck straightens up in his seat.

“You can’t blame yourself,” Hen says and rubs his arm. “You had no idea, none of us would’ve caught it, not in a situation like that. You had no way of knowing, you were just worried about getting him out.”

Buck stands up slowly and crosses the room in a few short strides. He’s not sure where it’s coming from or why it’s there, but there’s anger flaring up inside of him and making his cheeks burn. 

“What happened while I was unconscious?” His question comes out more demanding than he means it to. Hen looks surprised, but Bobby just looks defeated. His captain's pained expression is enough to enable him to swallow back the angry lump in his throat.

“Buck, maybe now’s not the-”

“It’s okay Hen, it’s his best friend in there. He deserves to know.” Bobby interrupts and casts a glance at Chris before lowering his voice. “Something happened while we were pulling the debris off of him.”

“What was it? Bobby, what happened?” Buck presses.

“One of the pieces of piping was… it had stabbed him, Buck.”

Buck can’t stop his mouth from falling open.

“We didn’t realize it until after we’d accidentally pulled it out when we lifted the debris off of him,” Bobby says, almost desperately like he’s begging for forgiveness. “We should’ve-  _ I  _ should’ve caught it.”

“It’s not your fault,” Buck says slowly and takes a half a step back. That was why it’d hurt Eddie so bad when he’d made his own attempt to free him, but he couldn’t have told anyone that because he’d passed out. He himself had probably caused more damage than just pulling the thing out would’ve by lifting it partially and then letting it back down. “Just uh… please tell me how bad it was.”

“There was a lot of bleeding,” Hen says quietly. “He nearly bled out before we even got him to the ambulance.”

“Damn,” Buck breathes and takes half a step back just as a doctor comes into the waiting room. His heart sinks in his chest. It’s too soon.

Buck doesn’t want to listen to what the man has to say. He doesn’t want to stand there and be told that his best friend is dead and that the man’s son is now an orphan. He wants to grab Christopher and run away, run far away and pretend that none of this ever happened, pretend that everything’s okay and that he hadn’t failed Eddie. But despite it all, whether by choice or the perhaps the inability to move, Buck stays right where he is. Bobby stands up next to him, along with everyone else in the room, it’s like a gesture of respect and acceptance of who and what they’ve just lost. Buck almost feels like he should be saluting as a gesture of farewell. He’s never been a pessimist, but right now he is one because he has to be. He knows it’s not going to make anything easier, but he still has to prepare himself. He runs through the words through his head so thoroughly that it takes him a couple seconds after the doctor speaks to actually register that he didn’t say what he thought he was going.

“He made it through surgery, but he’s not out of the woods yet,” the doctor is saying as Buck manages to actually focus on the man's words.

“You mean he’s okay?” Buck chokes, still scared that he’s imagining this and that it will all fade away at any second.

“Yes, he should be okay,” the doctor says kindly.

Bobby’s hand squeezes Buck’s shoulder reassuringly and with it comes the tidal wave of relief that hits so hard it practically knocks him off his feet and sends everything into a dizzying blur. Hands grab him and muffled voices echo around him but the only thing he feels is an overwhelming feeling of relief even as he hits the floor and the world around him spirals into blackness.

* * *

Buck groans and shifts where he’s laying with his head rested on a fluffy pillow. He can hear the all too familiar sound of hospital machines clicking and beeping next to him.

“I’m not sure how I ever forgot you snore,” Eddie’s hoarse voice punches through the relative silence of the room and Buck opens his eyes.

“You’re okay?” Buck breathes and looks over at his best friend who’s laying in a separate hospital bed next to him.

“Yeah, I’m more worried about you though,” Eddie says nonchalantly. “They said you passed out from relief.”

“I guess I did,” Buck says awkwardly and scratches his head. He doesn’t really remember anything after the doctor saying Eddie was going to be fine. “I uh… I thought- they said you were in bad shape…”

“Aw, come on Buck, I couldn’t die on you and Chris,” Eddie says offering Buck a pleasant smile. “I can’t be leaving Chris to keep you in check all on his own.”

“Speaking of Chris, where is he? And everyone else?” Buck asks, lifting his head off the pillows to look around the empty room.

“I sent them all home and Chris went with Bobby and Athena,” Eddie explains. “It was like 2:00 am.”

“It’s that late!?” Buck sits up a little more in surprise.

“Yeah, you took your sweet time waking up. Everyone told me your brain scans and all that were fine. They said it was exhaustion,” Eddie says and gives Buck a concerned look.

“Don’t give me that look,” Buck quips. “You just got stabbed by a pipe. You’re not allowed to worry about me.”

“Well someone has to,” Eddie retorts. “Are you okay, Buck?”

Buck sighs. “Yes Eddie, I’m fine. You just scared the hell out of me and I breathed in a lot of smoke. That’s probably why I passed out.”

“Are you sure?” Eddie asks locking gazes with Buck, his dark brown eyes conveying deeply seeded concern.

“Yes Eddie,” Buck says evenly and he means it. His best friend is safe and okay now. They're all okay. He smiles at Eddie. “I’m sure.”


End file.
